It’s tit for tat in the race for Monterey County sheriff and a day after Scott Miller was accused of violating campaign law, Steve Bernal was accused of the same malfeasance.

Incumbent Miller was the target of an anonymous email questioning whether he violated, primarily, California Government Code 3206 which prohibits any officer from participating in political activities while wearing a uniform.

Accompanying the accusation was a photo of the sheriff and a teenager posing for a picture Saturday at the Monterey County Fair. On his left hip, Miller sports his badge.

Thursday, anonymous opponents turned the table on Bernal, questioning whether some of the sheriff’s deputy’s campaign materials violate the same statute.

Included in the emailed accusation is a photo from Bernal’s campaign website in which he shakes hands with retired Sheriff Gordon Sonne. Bernal is fully uniformed and a Monterey County patch is legible on his left shoulder.

Code 3206 is somewhat ambiguous, said Berkeley Brannon, of the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, on Tuesday. Circumstances surrounding the photos could come into play and those aren’t apparent from still shots, he said.

Further, he said, “This section has no enforcement division. The reason it’s there is someone could, if they wanted to, enforce civilly.”

That could be coming down the pipe for Miller, said Scott Davis, president of the Monterey County Deputy Sheriffs Association, on Wednesday. He affirmed the DSA is working with Isaac Stevens, of Sacramento-based Mastagni, Holstedt, Amick, Miller & Johnsen, to determine if a case exists against Miller.

Earlier this summer, the DSA voted to endorse Bernal in the upcoming general election.

In 2012, the DSA sent out mailers supporting candidates for the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Davis said. Although the mailers show several members in full uniform, their patches have been scrubbed and contain no identifying agency information.

Following the endorsements, Davis said he and former DSA president Daniel Mitchell were hit with internal affairs investigations for partaking in political activities while uniformed. Ultimately, investigators found the two violated policy and letters of reprimand were added to their files, Davis said.

Thursday, Miller acknowledged an investigation of the two deputies took place, but it wasn’t at his behest, he said.

“It was handled at the shift level,” he said. “And it came in as a citizen’s complaint sent to our professional standards division.”

He rebuffed Davis’ claim the two deputies received letters of reprimand but declined to go further into the matter citing personnel privacy concerns.

Wednesday, Miller accused Christian Schneider, Bernal’s campaign manager, of manipulating a 16-year-old into taking the photo on Saturday. Schneider, in turn, called the allegation “pure fantasy and conspiracy theories.”

To Miller campaign spokesman Gregory D. Lee’s point, the sheriff was wearing a badge Saturday because he was simultaneously armed, Schneider disagreed.

Informed of the photo on Bernal’s website, Schneider said he put in a few calls and determined it was taken during Bernal’s swearing in ceremony with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

“It was taken by his wife and it was a proud moment for the Bernal family,” he said. “But in researching this issue, we don’t feel comfortable with it and we’re taking it down from the website.”

Like Brannon, Schneider noted the ambiguity of the applicable campaign laws.

“Because the law seems unclear in this and it doesn’t appear you can campaign while wearing a uniform we’re making sure none of that comes out of this campaign,” he said. “We would hope that Sheriff Miller would also respect the law and do the same thing.”